What I Learned About Human Rights, Heart Disease, and the FARC While Making a Film About Palm Oil

A file photo of Michael Dorgan near a palm plantation. Courtesy of Michael Dorgan

I set out to make a documentary about palm oil, knowing only that forests were being cleared in Indonesia, orangutans were being killed, and smog was spreading across Southeast Asia.

One year on, I’ve been behind the headlines and discovered a more complex and, arguably, more worrying story. I found that the environmental impact of palm oil stretches beyond Asia and the worst is potentially still to come.

With the Spotlight on Asia, Destruction Is Unchecked in Africa

I visited Cameroon, “the new frontier” for palm oil, according to environmentalists. Palm oil has actually been produced in Cameroon for a century, but plantations were relatively small and mainly served the domestic appetite.